Jean-Paul Sartre, Le Diable et le bon Dieu [The Devil and the Good Lord]

Adrian Theodore van den Hoven (University of Windsor)

Ed. by Edward Forman, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.07: French Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kate Averis (University of Western Australia), Hugo Azerad (University of Cambridge), Patrick ffrench (King's College London), Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Akane Kawakami (Birkbeck, University of London), Siobhán McIlvanney (King's College London), Sinan Richards (King's College London), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1951

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

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This three-act play was first performed in Paris at the Théâtre Antoine on 07 June, 1951; it was a success, but it scandalized the Catholic press. Sartre, an avowed atheist (Sartre, 2010, 138), used the play to underscore that, if God exists, He should not remain absent, but assist the peasants in their struggle against the militarily superior barons. Ultimately, however, the peasants and their leaders are left to their own devices. The action takes place during the German Peasants’ Wars of 1524-25 and focuses on several central characters: Goetz, Nasti, Heinrich, Catherine and Hilda. Goetz, the protagonist, is a sadomasochistic tyrant in the first act, and an unsuccessful do-gooder in the second, who ends up agreeing to Nasti’s command to lead the peasants in their fight against…

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3288 words

Citation: van den Hoven, Adrian Theodore. "Le Diable et le bon Dieu". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 May 2015 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11116, accessed 24 November 2024.]

Jean-Paul Sartre, Le Diable et le bon Dieu [The Devil and the Good Lord]

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